Ally Bank Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

Ally is one of the most well-known digital banks, and it typically offers a semi-compelling savings account.

In an increasingly digital world, banking with a brick and mortar bank isn’t a necessity any longer. You can park your checking, savings, and even your auto loans and home mortgage under the same digital roof if you want.

If you’re looking for a new bank that offers convenience, low fees, and high rates, you should check out Ally Bank. It’s not a perfect bank. But it comes close for anyone seeking the digital-only experience.

See how Ally Bank compares to the best high yield savings accounts here.

What Is Ally Bank?

Ally Bank is an online bank with full service. It offers high-yield deposit accounts including checking, savings, CDs (certificates of deposit) and money market accounts. It also extends loans including auto loans, home mortgages, and credit card financing.

You can also do your investing from Ally Bank’s investment platform, Ally Invest, which is a low-cost brokerage company. When you have multiple accounts at Ally Bank, you can view them all from the same website. That makes tracking your financial progress much easier.

See our review of Ally Invest here >>>

What Does It Offer?

Ally Bank offers a nice blend of low fees and competitive interest rates on its deposit accounts. Here's what you'll get if you decide to bank with Ally.

Interest Checking Account

The centerpiece of every person’s financial life is their checking account. Ally Bank has an online checking account that doesn’t require any monthly maintenance fees.

Technically, it's a high-yield checking account, though balances up to $15,000 earn just 0.10% APY. The 0.10% rate is not quite as high as some other banks, but it's competitive. Ally offers a 0.25% APY on balances over $15,000, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

The account gives you free access to any Allpoint ATM. It will also reimburse you for any other bank’s ATM usage fees up to $10 per month. You also get free checks and cashier’s checks,  free overdrafts, and incoming wires are free.

See how Ally's checking account compares to the best free checking accounts.

Savings Account

Ally Bank offers a decent rate on all savings accounts, but has historically always been about 1% below the top rates in the marketplace. Currently, Ally's high yield savings account earns 4.20% APY which is one of the highest rates we're seeing right now.

Remember, rates and fees are subject to change. 

You can find a full list of the best high yield savings accounts here.

Money Market Accounts (MMAs)

Ally Bank's money market accounts (MMAs) earn the same 4.20% APY as is offered on its savings accounts. Again that's an impressive rate, especially when you consider that it's earned on all balance tiers. There's also no minimum required to open an MMA with Ally.

Check out the best money market accounts here.

Certificates of Deposit (CDs)

One of Ally Bank’s most outstanding products is its mix of CDs. CDs are mid-term savings products that provide higher interest rates than other savings vehicles. Many people use “CD ladders” to help provide stable cash flow during retirement (or another period of time when you’re living off of savings).

Ally Bank offers three distinct CD products. Here are the details on Ally Bank’s CDs.

Check out the best bank CD rates here.

High-Yield CD

The high-yield CD has maturity dates ranging from three months to five years. If you withdraw your money early from the account, you’ll pay 60 to 150 days of interest in penalties.

Raise Your Rate CD

The Raise Your Rate CD is sort of a hybrid savings/CD product. But If Ally Bank raises its rates on CDs, you'll have an opportunity to lock in your CD at a higher interest rate.

The Raise Your Rate CD offers a two-year or four-year term. You’ll have the opportunity to raise your rate once on a two-year CD and twice on a four-year CD. But you’ll pay 60 to 120 days of interest in penalties if you withdraw your money early.

No Penalty CD

Ally Bank offers a No Penalty 11-month CD. You won’t pay any penalties for withdrawing your money early (provided you keep the money in the CD for at least six days).

Are There Any Fees?

Like most online banks, Ally has very few fees. You won’t pay monthly maintenance fees on any of the deposit accounts (including checking), and you can avoid most ATM fees. Ally Bank also doesn't charge overdraft fees.

There are only a few transaction fees that you could face as an Ally Bank customer. These are:

• Returned deposit item: $7.50
• Expedited delivery: $15
• Outgoing domestic wires: $20
• Foreign transaction fee: Up to 1%
• Account research fee: $25 per hour

How Does Ally Bank Compare?

Ally Bank offers virtually all of the deposit accounts that most people are looking for in an online bank. And their interest rates are consistently near the top.

One of the only things that Ally Bank is still missing is an option to earn cashback on debit card transactions. Here's a quick look at how Ally compares to some of its top competitors.

CIT Bank is another online-only bank that consistently offers a high APY savings account. Right now, you can earn 5.00% APY on your savings over $5,000.

Western Alliance Bank is another online bank that has a great APY. You can currently earn 5.31% APY with just a $500 minimum.

How Do I Open An Account?

It's easy to open an Ally Bank account online. Start by visiting its website. Then go to the product page for the type of account you want to open and click the big "Open Account" button.

Next, you'll be asked to provide your personal information such as your name, address, and Social Security number.  You'll also be asked to link the existing bank account that you'll use to fund your new Ally account.

Completing the Ally Bank application should take less than 5 minutes. Once you've been approved, you’ll receive a confirmation email. If you prefer to apply by phone, you can call 1-877-247-2559 at any day and time.

Is My Money Safe?

Yes, Ally is a Member FDIC bank. That means your deposits are protected up to $250,000 per depositor for each qualifying account. Learn how to insure excess deposits above these limits.

Ally's website is encrypted and it uses two-factor authentication to keep its customers' accounts protected. If you suspect that you're account may be compromised, you can call Ally Bank's dedicated fraud hotline at 1-800-971-6037.

How Do I Contact Ally Bank?

As an online-only bank, Ally doesn't have any local offices that are available to visit in person. But it does offer 24/7 customer service via phone, secure message, and live chat.

From inside the U.S, you can contact Ally Bank by phone at 1-877-247-2559. And if you're outside of the U.S., you can call +1-757-247-2559. You'll need to log in to your account to send a secure message. And you can start an online chat on this page.

It's a bit concerning to see that Ally's customer service rating on Trustpilot is currently very low at 1.2/5 "Bad". But it should be noted that, as of writing, only 573 customers have left reviews on the platform. Ally Bank has a A rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Is It Worth It?

If you’re looking for an online bank that checks all the boxes, Ally Bank is tough to beat. It offers more products than most online-only banks. Plus, it offers higher interest rates (on average) than most online banks.

Anyone who wants to keep most of their accounts in one “house” will have a tough time beating Ally Bank on fees, service, and rates.

Ally Bank doesn’t always offer the best rates on its savings products, but it’s consistently near the top (and it has been for several years). People who don’t want to spend their life rate-chasing can expect to be happy with Ally Bank for years to come.

Ally Bank FAQs

Here are the answers to a few popular questions that people ask about Ally Bank.

Who owns Ally Bank?

Ally Bank is a wholly-owned division of Ally Financial. Before 2010, Ally Financial was known as GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation).

Do you get a debit card with Ally Bank?

Yes, and cardholders get free cash access at over 43,000 domestic ATMs. However, the Ally Bank Debit MasterCard® does not currently offer any cashback rewards.

Does Ally Bank work with Zelle?

Yes, Ally Bank customers can use the Zelle app and website to send and receive money instantly and with no fees.

Does Ally Bank support Apple Pay or other digital wallets?

Yes, the Ally Bank Debit MasterCard® can be added to Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

Is Ally offering any bonuses to new banking customers?

No, while Ally Financial offers bonuses of up to $3,000 to new investing customers, the company is not currently running any promotions on its deposit accounts.

Ally Bank Features